Stephen Cluxton has been named Footballer of the Year for the first time in his career.

Whether it was pulling 99s in the shop or carving up opposition defences on the pitch, everyone could see something very special in the Fossa youngster, writes Christy O’Connor.

And so what stands between Dublin and immortality is the county that itself was denied that very place in history on another All-Ireland final day.

One hasn’t really lived as a journalist unless you’ve pointed a recording device at a winning manager and posed the most pointless question of them all: What was said in the dressing-room at half-time?